Yeah, that lady looks caring, doesn't she? Don't be fooled. Don't tell her your secrets.
On her first visit to the WIC office, Liz learned her first social service lesson
Don't tell anybody anything. If necessary, lie.
Before she could get the food coupons that WIC - Women, Infants and Children - offers to low-income pregnant mothers and children under 5, she had to fill out a short questionnaire.
One question read: "I feel sad for no reason"
Her choices were "Never," "Sometimes," or "Always."
And as you might expect for a woman who became unexpectedly pregnant
and is depending on the social service system for food and health
insurance, she picked "sometimes." Who on this planet never feels sad
for no reason? Robots, that's who.
But checking "sometimes"
was a mistake. After that, she got a call every single week, asking her
if she was seeking counseling for her depression yet.
Lesson
#1: don't tell. If they ask, don't tell. If they don't ask, don't tell.
Everything's fine. I mean, except for the fact that you're having a
baby and you don't have any money. But still, everything's fine.
She
had to fill it out again six months later, and this time she checked
"never." Yes, a woman who is eight months pregnant never feels sad for
no reason. They actually congratulated her on doing better with her
mental health issues.
Lesson #2: You may be a "needy" family, but what social services provide won't necessarily be what you need.
Liz's little WIC folio full of coupons which she brings to the grocery store.
So
the way WIC works is that women who qualify get coupons every week to
use at the grocery store. The coupons dictate what you can get for
free. Actually, not so much what you can get, but what you have to get.
With WIC, it's all or nothing. Don't like something on the list? Too
bad. You're taking it home.
It's the list that's weird. Here are some of the items:
Milk:
A whole lot of milk. Tons. For one single person, Liz gets six gallons
of milk a month. That's one gallon a week and sometimes two gallons.
Six gallons! Six gallons is 768 ounces of milk, or 96 eight-ounce
glasses, or 3.2 glasses a day. Liz and her husband, Nathan, who both
love milk, cannot drink this much milk. And it's only supposed to be
for her. She'll get more when the baby comes.
Cereal:
You get four boxes of cereal a month. But you have to buy them all at
once. They have to be the cheapest kind, but not in total. Cheapest by
the ounce. God help you if the store doesn't list which cereals are
"WIC approved" because you may find yourself at the register, being
sent back to the cereal aisle several times over.
Eggs: a dozen eggs a week. Liz has started making a lot of omlettes.
Dried beans: one bag a month. Here's your protien ration. You also get...
Peanut butter: one jar a month.
Cheese: you guessed it. One a month. I hope you like your cheese all at once.
Juice:
See "milk" above. WIC gives you a boatload of juice. A 46 ounce bottle
every week, and often two a week. Never mind that juice isn't really
that good for you. If you're on WIC, you're going to drink juice. Or
keep a stock pile next to your refrigerator, like Liz does.
The thrilling $8 a month produce coupon. This is what most of the coupons look like.
When
you breastfeed, you can get some canned tuna and some carrots as well.
In fact, carrots have their own category on the WIC approved food list.
What about all the nutritional reforms, you say? You may have heard that WIC has recently gotten a makeover, including fruits and vegetables. I heard that too, and I was excited. I asked Liz what she would be getting.
She
brought out her new coupons, and I laughed aloud. Eight dollars. Liz
gets $8 worth of produce. Not a week - a month. And you can't use $2 a
week. You have to buy all eight dollars worth of produce at once,
portion it out like you're living on wartime rations and then hope it
doesn't go bad.
What a difference a reform makes...
Lesson #3: When you're on public aid, everyone feels entitled to treat you like crap. Even the grocery store check out person.
In
all our time chatting about WIC, our main question is this: why is this
program so weird? I mean, it's great to give food to mothers and
children. It's even been proven that WIC works well. It increases
birthweights and helps pregnant mothers get more nutritious food.
It's
not that it's a bad program. It's just, why isn't it better? Why not
more produce? Why not less juice? Why so much flipping milk?
The
only answer we've come up with is this: agriculture. WIC amounts to a
huge, HUGE agriculture subsidy because the government pays farmers for
all that milk and cheese. This country is drinking less and less milk,
so we got to feed it to someone, or the prices will go down. Why not
pour it down the throats of the least of these?
A government report released earlier this year
shows the food spending attributed to WIC. The USDA estimates that the
WIC accounts for $1.3 billion in demand for farm products. Just look at
this chart.
Yeah, that's a lot of happy farmers and juicy cows.
What do you think? Does WIC make any sense? Could we do it better, and how?
We've
started with the least offensive of social service programs. Waiting in
the wings, we've got medicaid and the big white whale of public aid,
TANF. So check back again tomorrow, blogosphere. The worst is yet to
come.
I think we should outsource our government to the Scandinavians because we apparently suck at running our own country. Stories like this make the socialist in me want to turn libertarian. I'm not going to argue about more or less government, but that we need SMARTER government that's not chained to various lobbies is clear.
The really stupid part is that dairy is usually not great for nursing moms. I know lots of moms who had to swear off the dairy because their babies couldn't handle it in the breastmilk. And as someone who feels tenderly about breastfeeding, this just makes me want to cry...
Anyhoo, those are my probably not so well-informed, in the heat of the moment 2 cents. Thanks again for bringing up stuff that the average citizen is usually blissfully ignorant about. It really does make me sad that we only give the stalest crumbs to the most disadvantaged.
"like, take my coupon" "like, like, like, like". Sheesh. I fear we can look forward to more of the same inarticulate explanations when it's me talking rather than Megan! - sorry blog-o-sphere. I feel obligated to tell you that Megan did a stellar job of trying to get me to focus and talk about one thing at a time, and I assure you that these interviews have been edited to make me look as coherent as possible - but you know, something about getting blood from a stone and all that......
Juice party at my house! BYOB! We have a new house rule at the Joynt Sandberg household - you're welcome to come over, we'd love to see you, but (your insistence otherwise be damned) YOU ARE LEAVING WITH JUICE. YOU WILL TAKE JUICE HOME WITH YOU.
Megan, How sad that our government"sells" a program to the public as help for the needy when it is help for the dairy industry. Your presentation of that fact had nothing to do with the personal nature of the story and the whole discussion of news vs. human interest. You are a reporter. One with a refreshing slant on providing facts. Thank you.
Yep, WIC props up domestic ag, and so does the National School Lunch Program. And we wonder why the next generation of kids has no idea how to feed themselves.
Quoting: "Yeah, that's a lot of happy farmers and juicy cows."
Not exactly -- the farmer's aren't making much money off of this, but the industrial processors, distributors, marketers and lobbyists are. And it ain't such a sweet life for the cows either.
But, since your friend is in that system and has a lot of extra milk, I suggest she learn to make homemade yogurt, ricotta and other soft cheeses. Mix it up a bit.
I'm thinking about the questionaire that is needed to be filled out upon application and how similar it is to applying for a job a big box store, Walmart, Target, Home Depot, etc. Do they make you take a drug test? Are their questions regarding whether or not you will give away the food or any other psychological test questions? It's amazing what people have to do get help. It must be hard enough having a full family and working with social services. I can't imagine what it must be like if your a single mother.
The food offered on this list seems so unhealthy. I know that there is the arguement of at least it's something, but with all of the good healthy and organic food that is thrown away everyday theres gotta be a solution.
Hi Bill - I saw a comment over on facebook that related to yours, and I wanted to post it. The commenter tried to comment here, but the system failed her or something. Here's what she said:
It is damn hard work being poor. I provided transportation for Zane's "tummy mommy" during the last few months of her pregnancy. In a college town w/ some public transportation, it took all day just to get from one's home to the place... Read More where you make an appointment with a SW to get into the system. Even with my help driving her around there was then a week or so of waiting. Another whole day to be present to wait in line at the local food pantry. (Not to mention how in the world someone who is 7mo preggers w/o transportation going to get perishable food home via public transportation that will take 3 hrs? Another day: to apply at the Salvation Army for some rent assistance; to get signed up for WIC; to get signed up for a dr.'s appointment (for someone already "in" that system). It is a full time job being poor! I am in awe of people who are able to live like this
When my lizzie was preggers with Topher she was told to eat more pancakes. Seriously. Liz was 100% vegetarian and super concerned about nutrition. Her iron counts were way off the scale (thanks cast iron skillet!).
She was told she had to eat more pancakes. A whole bunch of crazy.
Michigan's Bridge card program has saved our asses this year, tho. It is an awesome program, especially when you have 3 hungry children...
13 Comments
SarahJi said:
I think we should outsource our government to the Scandinavians because we apparently suck at running our own country. Stories like this make the socialist in me want to turn libertarian. I'm not going to argue about more or less government, but that we need SMARTER government that's not chained to various lobbies is clear.
The really stupid part is that dairy is usually not great for nursing moms. I know lots of moms who had to swear off the dairy because their babies couldn't handle it in the breastmilk. And as someone who feels tenderly about breastfeeding, this just makes me want to cry...
Anyhoo, those are my probably not so well-informed, in the heat of the moment 2 cents. Thanks again for bringing up stuff that the average citizen is usually blissfully ignorant about. It really does make me sad that we only give the stalest crumbs to the most disadvantaged.
Fernando Diaz said:
"SMARTER government" = oxymoron of the day
SarahJi said:
Maybe in the U.S. Just call me optimistic. Or stupid.
lizjoyntsandberg said:
"like, take my coupon" "like, like, like, like". Sheesh. I fear we can look forward to more of the same inarticulate explanations when it's me talking rather than Megan! - sorry blog-o-sphere. I feel obligated to tell you that Megan did a stellar job of trying to get me to focus and talk about one thing at a time, and I assure you that these interviews have been edited to make me look as coherent as possible - but you know, something about getting blood from a stone and all that......
Juice party at my house! BYOB! We have a new house rule at the Joynt Sandberg household - you're welcome to come over, we'd love to see you, but (your insistence otherwise be damned) YOU ARE LEAVING WITH JUICE. YOU WILL TAKE JUICE HOME WITH YOU.
SarahJi said:
Don't tell Cadence that, or she may move in, her and her $2000-worth-of-dental-work-requiring set of teeth.
ltargos said:
a girl I know gives me a gallon of milk a month because she cannot drink it all. boo for industrial farm subsidies.
kj said:
Megan, How sad that our government"sells" a program to the public as help for the needy when it is help for the dairy industry. Your presentation of that fact had nothing to do with the personal nature of the story and the whole discussion of news vs. human interest. You are a reporter. One with a refreshing slant on providing facts. Thank you.
rhoticity said:
Yep, WIC props up domestic ag, and so does the National School Lunch Program. And we wonder why the next generation of kids has no idea how to feed themselves.
ShawneeSue said:
Quoting: "Yeah, that's a lot of happy farmers and juicy cows."
Not exactly -- the farmer's aren't making much money off of this, but the industrial processors, distributors, marketers and lobbyists are. And it ain't such a sweet life for the cows either.
But, since your friend is in that system and has a lot of extra milk, I suggest she learn to make homemade yogurt, ricotta and other soft cheeses. Mix it up a bit.
Megan Cottrell said:
Good point. I happened to be listening to NPR today and heard this thing about milk distribution. Crazy! Thanks for making me think.
Bill Tucker said:
I'm thinking about the questionaire that is needed to be filled out upon application and how similar it is to applying for a job a big box store, Walmart, Target, Home Depot, etc. Do they make you take a drug test? Are their questions regarding whether or not you will give away the food or any other psychological test questions? It's amazing what people have to do get help. It must be hard enough having a full family and working with social services. I can't imagine what it must be like if your a single mother.
The food offered on this list seems so unhealthy. I know that there is the arguement of at least it's something, but with all of the good healthy and organic food that is thrown away everyday theres gotta be a solution.
Megan Cottrell said:
Hi Bill - I saw a comment over on facebook that related to yours, and I wanted to post it. The commenter tried to comment here, but the system failed her or something. Here's what she said:
It is damn hard work being poor. I provided transportation for Zane's "tummy mommy" during the last few months of her pregnancy. In a college town w/ some public transportation, it took all day just to get from one's home to the place... Read More where you make an appointment with a SW to get into the system. Even with my help driving her around there was then a week or so of waiting. Another whole day to be present to wait in line at the local food pantry. (Not to mention how in the world someone who is 7mo preggers w/o transportation going to get perishable food home via public transportation that will take 3 hrs? Another day: to apply at the Salvation Army for some rent assistance; to get signed up for WIC; to get signed up for a dr.'s appointment (for someone already "in" that system). It is a full time job being poor! I am in awe of people who are able to live like this
Bob B said:
When my lizzie was preggers with Topher she was told to eat more pancakes. Seriously. Liz was 100% vegetarian and super concerned about nutrition. Her iron counts were way off the scale (thanks cast iron skillet!).
She was told she had to eat more pancakes. A whole bunch of crazy.
Michigan's Bridge card program has saved our asses this year, tho. It is an awesome program, especially when you have 3 hungry children...
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